1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawer for holding knives or other tools or utensils, and more particularly to a drawer with a built-in holder which retains and stores such items within the drawer in a safe and organized manner when the drawer is closed and yet provides ready access to the stored items to facilitate their easy removal when the drawer is opened.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Most drawers for holding knives, tools, or other utensils in the kitchen, workshop or other locations in the home, provide simply a large drawer space into which the various items are haphazardly placed. When the items within the drawer include knives or other sharp objects, someone reaching into the drawer without being careful can be cut accidentally by grabbing or otherwise contacting the sharp edge of such an object. Moreover, conventional drawers make it extremely difficult and frustrating to try to find a specific item desired. These problems have led to the development and use of various receptacles for placement in the bottom of a drawer with suitably shaped recesses or slots for retaining and separating various correspondingly shaped utensils in an organized manner. However, because such recepacles usually lie flat along the bottom of the drawer, access to and withdrawal of an item from its recess is often difficult. Also, someone trying to withdraw a knife or other sharp-edged item from its recess, especially if not careful or if in poor light, can still be cut by grabbing a sharp edge. Typical silverware and utensil drawers and receptacles of this type are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,952,510; 2,652,921; and 3,915,213.
A tray-type cigarette package has been proposed that would provide ready access to cigarettes when the tray portion of the package is pulled outwardly of a casing portion. In such construction the tensioning of a cord device interconnecting the tray and casing as the tray is pulled outwardly of the casing causes a false floor of the tray to rise at an inclination, elevating cigarettes in the tray above its top for ready removal therefrom. Such a cigarette package is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,937,222. However, the cigarette package construction shown in such patent is not applicable to household use as a knife, tool or utensil drawer because of the complexity of its construction, the temporary and disposable nature of the parts and the cord-type tray-elevating device which would be especially subject to malfunction and breakage with long-term repetitive use in conjunction with a drawer. Also the tray of such package has no particular means for separating, organizing or shielding the contents of the tray.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved drawer construction capable of retaining and storing knives and other tools and utensils in an organized manner while providing ready and safe access to them when the drawer is open.